FLOWER DRUM SONG Film- Page 2

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/11/13 at 11:36am

He just turned 70 years old this summer, he lives in LA, and he still teaches dance occasionally at Barbara Bostock's LA Dance Fitness.

You can see him on the DVDs of the old Hullabaloo show, like this number:


Pat Adiarte Five Different Girls Hullabaloo '65

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

Posted: 10/11/13 at 8:09pm

IMHO one of the worst movie musicals ever made...the lighting alone...yuck!...and i love the score, and knew it by heart as a kid...even I ENJOY BEING A GIRL...:)

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 10/11/13 at 9:05pm

I admit to really loving the film -- sometimes despite myself, and if you have enough interest in it to ask whether you should see it, I say take the plunge. But after reading the original libretto, they really did make some small (and not so small) changes that were to the film's detriment and I think date it more than the original libretto.

Best brought up Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and at least the film of FDS doesn't water down the stage version as much as that film did (and yes, I love that movie as well.)

[allofmylife]

Posted: 10/12/13 at 1:48am

There's probably an entire book in the making of the stage play, with Gene Kelly trying to direct on Broadway (although he looked good in the pre-production publicity photos.)

[bk]

Posted: 10/12/13 at 4:03am

First off, I saw Flower Drum Song the movie on its opening day - it was one of the first movies to play the Warner Cinerama after it had been converted back into a regular movie theater and rechristened the Pacific's. I was mad for the film, and saw it about ten times during its exclusive run there. Of course I had the Decca soundtrack and it is to this day still my favorite Rodgers and Hammerstein score and contains my favorite Rodgers and Hammerstein song, Love, Look Away, which is gorgeously arranged and orchestrated in the film by music supervisor Alfred Newman. In fact, the film orchestrations put the show orchestrations to shame, IMO. I was smitten with both Miss Umeki and Miss Kwan, and loved the entire cast. And I loved the Sunday ballet, which I found very clever.

I recently issued the soundtrack to The World of Suzie Wong and had a wonderful lunch with Miss Kwan, who graciously signed 100 booklets for us for the first 100 people who bought the CD. She looks as beautiful today as back then, and she's a complete charmer.

The only times I've seen Flower Drum Song onstage were once in 1964 at a wonderful small theater in Culver City called Bluth Brothers Theater, run by the brothers Bluth, Fred and Don (yes, THAT Don Bluth). It was a terrific production. And then I saw the workshop of the Hwang version - I tried to go with it and thought it had its moments, but I ultimately just didn't like it much. At that point, they were still trying to shoehorn in The Next Time It Happens, and I was so angry about it I had endless impassioned chats with Ted Chapin about how awful it was and that no amount of chop suey in the accompaniment was going to make it feel like a Flower Drum Song song. I think it was still in at the Taper, and I once again was relentless in my criticism of it to Ted - I think it finally went away for Broadway, but I'm not 100% sure of that.

I still watch the DVD often and hope for a great Blu-ray release one of these fine days.

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/12/13 at 7:49am

Very cool info, bk.

The movie has been turning up on my HDMV movie channel for a few months now, with a beautiful-looking HD master, so I imagine a Blu-ray release is likely at some point in the future. They've got the transfer ready to go.

[hushpuppy]

Posted: 10/12/13 at 5:57pm

Here's real trivia: Patrick Adiarte was Loni Ackerman's first husband in the 70s.

Patrick Adiarte is straight? So much for my fantasy about growing old with him as my hot Filipino daddy.

Posted: 10/12/13 at 8:07pm

I'll second bk's praise of the orchestrstions. A great deal of the as yet unreleased underscoring and dance music is especially glorious. The film is worth it for those aspects alone.

As for the controversial aspect, I once saw a documentary on the depiction of Asian Americans in pop culture and one of the main examples used against the film was the Chop Suey number for not being a real Chinese dish, although it is expressly described as "that Chinese dish the Americans invented."

Posted: 10/12/13 at 8:18pm

Love this film.

love it.

dated. but still love it.

great choreo. great performances and some great o'l school comedy.

[allofmylife]

Posted: 10/13/13 at 5:22am

I saw the footage of the "Fan Tan Fannie" number from the recent Broadway revival and I must saw, it was enjoyable. Was the production itself any good?

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/13/13 at 7:57am

I saw the revival at the Mark Taper in L.A. before it went to New York. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and it was great in that venue. I thought the cast was solid, and the updated book didn't bother me as much as it did others, I guess.

The period was moved ahead a bit to give it a little of that early '60s vibe (reflected in the arrangements of the Fan Tan Fannie number). It worked for me.

Loved the choreography, too.

Fan Tan Fannie - revival version

Updated On: 10/13/13 at 07:57 AM